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closeup of stack of strudel slices

Traditional Apple Strudel


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  • Author: Elizabeth Farr
  • Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
  • Yield: 18 pieces 1x

Description

There is nothing under the sun that beats perfectly crisp apple strudel.  Practicing this dough is 1000% worth your effort.  Once you get it, you’ll want to toss out every apple pie recipe you own; it’s that good and better.


Ingredients

Scale

Filling

Make-ahead apple pie filling with up to 5 pounds of apples

Dough

  • 2 cups bread flour (260 g)
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup hot water (177 mL)
  • 2 Tablespoons melted lard or butter (28 g) plus 1 teaspoon for the dough

For finishing the strudel

  • 1 stick butter, melted (113 g)
  • 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


Instructions

Make the dough

  1. Mix all ingredients in a mixer bowl with the paddle attachment. Beat the dough for 10 minutes until it is extremely pliable and pulls away from the side.
  2. Place the teaspoon of extra lard over the dough and rest it for at least 90 minutes, covered with a bowl you’ve warmed for a few seconds on the stove.  Place the dough in a warm spot with no drafts.

Stretching the dough

  1. Use a small sieve to sprinkle a cotton or linen tablecloth on a large counter or card table.  Rub the flour into the cloth, making sure that the tablecloth is covered with a fine layer of flour.
  2. Sprinkle a small amount of flour on the dough, and then begin patting it into a rectangle with your hands. Do not knead the dough.
  3. Flour the backs of your hands (take off your rings), then gently stretch the dough until it resists. When the dough springs back, stop. You can hang it off the end of the table to encourage it to stay stretched, but once it resists you, leave it.
  4. Continue to pull the dough, moving clockwise around the table, pulling one side of the dough at a time.  Do not rush this process.  Always move at the speed of the dough, never coaxing it to stretch faster than the time it takes to recover.
  5. Gradually the dough will get thinner and thinner. You’re shooting for the dough to be transparent and about 3 feet by 3 feet.  You should be able to see the pattern of the tablecloth beneath the dough.

Finishing and baking the strudel

  1. When the dough is fully stretched, use your wet pastry brush

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    to gently brush the melted butter over the entire surface of the dough.  Get down at eye level to make sure that every inch of the dough is brushed.
  2. Scatter breadcrumbs over the butter.
  3. Mix the sugar and the cinnamon and keep it handy.
  4. Choose one edge and place all of the apple filling about 6″ from the edge in one long log shape.
  5. Tuck the dough over the apples, using the edge of your hand to tamp down the edges, sealing in the apples. Brush off the excess flour with your dry brush, and then brush it with butter (wet brush). Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the buttered top of the log.
  6. Grab the tablecloth firmly along the width of the strudel and quickly flip the dough back onto itself. 
  7. Brush off the excess flour, butter the next flip of the strudel, and add cinnamon sugar as before.
  8. Continue to flip the strudel, following the same steps until you get to the end of the dough. Tuck the last bits of dough under the strudel.
  9. Use a knife to cut off the ends past the filling. You can cut these ends into smaller strips and bake them on your sheet too. Strudel ends are the best!
  10. Lift the whole strudel carefully onto your baking sheet, forming it into a letter S (for strudel!). Cut small vent holes with the tip of a knife along the whole length.
  11. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the strudel is crisp and a lovely golden brown. whole strudel on sheet tray
  12. Dust with powdered sugar before cutting into slices.

Notes

The heroes of crispness: breadcrumbs and the raisins in the filling are here in the strudel to absorb any extra juice from the apples.  As much as we love juicy apples, the juice here can easily seem down into the pastry, keeping it from getting crisp.  If you are firmly in the raisin haters camp, use another dried fruit in the filling such as sour cherries or apricots.  Likewise, the breadcrumbs also absorb more apple juice and add some subtle texture.  Grind up old stale bread in a blender or use panko breadcrumbs.  If you don’t want to use breadcrumbs but you want the texture, use ground almonds or hazelnuts.

Pear Strudel: (Birnenstrudel): Instead of apples, you can either make a batch of the apple filling or you can peel and very thinly slice about 4 pounds of pears.  Scatter them with the breadcrumbs across the strudel dough, sprinkling them with the cinnamon sugar, not just in one spot and then roll up the dough per the instructions.  Pear strudel is a little more delicate than apple and absolutely incredible in its own way.

  • Prep Time: 45 minutes
  • Cook Time: 60 minutes
  • Category: Pastry
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: German